Even in my high school days the shenanigans of the new powers that be in the brand new nation were covered only "by the book". I had to be in my 30s before I understood more of what went on in and around 1798 ... the Federalists, John Adams et al seeking to suppress dissent, closing newspapers, jailing dissenters -- The Alien and Sedition Acts. The Aurora & Benjamin Bache
The following is about the best concise comparison I've read in the last few years between the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 and the USA PATRIOT Act of our time. See what you think.
The Revolution of 1800 and the USA PATRIOT Act.
The warnings have been clear from the day the USAPATRIOT Act was rammed through the US Congress. Not only must you patriotically give up your children for the government's dirty little war, you also must not express your constitutionally-guaranteed angry opinion about any of it in public. Oh ... and don't criticize the POTUS or his minions. We know what happens then when you do that, don't we?
